Middle Barton Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have close bonds with all staff. The staff openly welcome children into their play setting, showing a keen interest in their lives and their families. They give children time to talk about their experiences at home and encourage them to share these with others. Children happily explore the environment, confidently leading the play with their friends.

Staff provide children with clear explanations to help them to understand the boundaries and rules. Children demonstrate good listening skills, and they learn to take turns and share during their play. They learn the skills they need to negotiate and work together in group activities. For example, they discuss who is using which tool when making fruit skewers. They then exchange tools when they have finished.

Staff provide a broad range of play activities to enrich children's life experiences. They use extra funding effectively to support individual families and promote positive community connections. Children attend extra sessions to help close the gaps in their learning and meet their care needs, as well as forest school experiences to widen their understanding of the world around them.

Staff are deployed well throughout the sessions. They follow children's lead in their play, giving them suggestions, ideas and direction. This enables children to think for themselves, solve problems and think critically. Every child has equal interaction and positive engagement from all staff.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Children learn to become independent. Staff encourage children to try new skills to help them learn how to manage their self-care needs. For example, staff talk children through putting on their coats and shoes before playing outside. They help children to work out which shoe fits their right or left foot. Children enthusiastically remind other children to use soap when washing their hands. Staff successfully introduce discussions at snack time about healthy foods, helping children to understand about the importance of oral health.
• Staff continuously support children's communication skills. Older children extend their vocabulary by hearing and using more complex words in their play. Staff introduce repetitive sounds and words through stories and songs to broaden their vocabulary and help them communicate their needs. All children use simple signing to help them express their needs.
• Staff know the children well and have clear intentions for their learning based on what they need to learn next to move on to the next stage of their development. However, staff do not always consider how children prefer to learn when planning activities. For example, although staff recognise that some children learn best outside, opportunities for those children to do so are restricted due to the rigorous routines in place.
• Staff understand the importance of helping children to communicate and express their feelings. Children feel proud of their achievements and are eager to show staff and visitors what they have done and how they have achieved it. Children actively show how proud they are of moving on to school and their readiness for the next stage in their development. However, on occasion, staff do not fully support younger children's emotions and frustrations. For example, young children show frustration when staff emphasise the achievements of older children who are going to school.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive exceptional support from well-trained and knowledgeable staff. Staff work with parents and other professionals effectively. They implement targeted plans to consistently support these children to make progress in their learning and promote their smooth transitions to school.
• Staff are eager to improve, and they request feedback regarding the effectiveness of their practice. They regularly access training opportunities and cascade new-found knowledge to their colleagues. This helps to provide a consistent approach to their practice.
• The very supportive management team is committed to making ongoing improvements. The team constantly gains information from other practitioners to help evaluate the overall quality of practice.
• Parents make positive comments about their children's progress and their ongoing care. They feel confident that their children are well prepared for school. Parents appreciate the guidance they receive to continue their children's learning at home. They receive plenty of verbal and written information about their children's ongoing progress. They thoroughly enjoy the 'stay and play' sessions, which helps them to understand the importance of play.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation of routines to fully support children who prefer to learn outside
• enhance support for younger children to help them consistently learn how to manage their feelings and behaviours.